The more than 4 million traffic tickets handed out to Californians each year for such infractions as speeding, failing to stop at a red light or failing to signal before changing lanes should no longer be criminal charges, but instead be handled in civil court, says California’s top judge.

If other judicial leaders and state lawmakers agree with Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, erring drivers would spend less time in court and would no longer face fines of up to $300, and possible license suspensions, for failing to show up for a hearing.

The proposals from a judicial panel called the Commission on the Future of California’s Court System are the latest response to a torrent of driver’s license suspensions brought on indirectly by the court system’s financial shortages. California courts have filled chronic holes in their budgets by adding surcharges to traffic tickets — $490 to the standard $100 fine for a minor violation, like a broken taillight. When drivers miss payment deadlines, they face additional penalties and license suspensions.

A statewide report in 2015 found that 4.2 million Californians had their licenses suspended between 2006 and 2013 for failing to pay traffic fines and penalties, and that poor people were hit the hardest.

The Legislature responded with an amnesty law that reduced debts on overdue tickets issued before January 2013 and enabled more than 192,000 drivers to regain their licenses, according to the law’s sponsor, state Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys.

Hertzberg has a new bill, SB185, that would prevent the state from automatically suspending licenses of drivers unable to pay fines for minor traffic tickets and would require courts to base fines on a driver’s ability to pay. Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed the proposal in his January budget message to the Legislature.

“Often, the primary consequence of a driver’s license suspension is the inability to legally drive to work or take one’s children to school,” Brown said.

The traffic ticket proposal released this week would also require approval by the Legislature and the governor. It would apply to traffic violations that are classified as infractions, punishable only by fines and not by jail time — speeding, running a red light or a stop sign, changing lanes without signaling, parking illegally in a handicapped zone and similar offenses.

It would not affect drunken driving, which can be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or a felony with a potential jail or prison sentence. In 2014-15, according to the court commission, 4.15 million traffic tickets for infractions were issued in the state, 75 percent of the total criminal charges filed that year.

Under the proposal, infractions would be moved to the civil court system. If a driver failed to show up in court, the judge could conduct a trial and decide whether the law had been violated, but could no longer impose a fine of up to $300 for nonappearance or suspend the driver’s license.

The proposal would not eliminate license suspensions for failing to pay fines and penalties for the original offense, said Commissioner Mark Borrell, a Ventura County Superior Court judge. But he said getting rid of penalties for failure to appear in court would make the fines more affordable and would be an important protection for drivers.

Ticketed drivers would not have a criminal record, but the switch to a civil court proceeding would also make it easier for the state to prove a violation. Rather than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard for criminal convictions, only a “preponderance,” or majority, of the evidence, would be required. The commission said the lesser standard is appropriate for minor violations.

The commission’s proposal would also give the state more leeway to offer evidence from statements made outside court, including police reports, if the judge found them reliable. But Borrell said the new system still would not allow a violation to be proved solely on the basis of a police report.

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The recommendations also included reducing drivers’ mandatory court appearances and giving them more options online, where they could track their cases, submit evidence and pay their fines.

That approach pleased Hertzberg, author of the bill to limit license suspensions and traffic fines.

Instead of having to spend hours traveling to and from court and waiting for one’s case to be called, “why can’t you have a little kiosk at a shopping center?” Hertzberg asked. Overall, he said, the commission is on the right track, because “we shouldn’t be criminalizing traffic tickets.”

The commission’s recommendations are designed to “improve (Californians’) interactions and experiences with our justice system,” and make the courts more accessible, Cantil-Sakauye said.

The commission’s recommendations include a pilot technology project that would allow lawyers and witnesses in most types of court cases that do not involve criminal prosecutions to take part in the proceedings from remote locations rather than in a courtroom.

Cantil-Sakauye told the state Judicial Council, which she chairs, to study and report on the proposals by the end of September so they could be forwarded to the Legislature.

Driving with an expired license or registration, or failing to have one’s license in the car when stopped by police

Having a broken taillight

Traffic offenses that would remain criminal violations include:

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

Reckless driving

Driving without a license

Driving the wrong way on a divided highway

Drag racing

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